United Steelworkers Local 2604 and Mittal Steel USA-Lackawanna received the third Champions@Work Award in May from the Cornell ILR (industrial and labor relations) School's Workforce Industry and Economic Development unit in Buffalo, N.Y.

The award recognizes "high-road partnerships" for quality jobs and quality products in western New York; the union and Mittal Steel USA-Lackawanna were cited for their shared spirit of cooperation and trust.

The award is an outgrowth of the groundbreaking study Champions@Work, conducted by Cornell in 2000, which found clear evidence of high-performance workplace practices, workforce quality and constructive labor relations in the region.

"As with our previous award winners, Steelworkers and Mittal Steel USA in Lackawanna link our region of western New York to the global economy and yet benefit our local communities economically through their joint activities," said Reggie Grogan, ILR's Champions@Work coordinator, who presented the award.

The Lackawanna steel mill was originally part of Bethlehem Steel's large complex along the Lake Erie shoreline. Annual production volume of 500,000 tons of galvanized steel is the same now as it was under Bethlehem's ownership, but this volume of production is accomplished with half the workforce. In 2003, ownership of the mill passed from Bethlehem Steel to International Steel Group (ISG), which was purchased in 2005 by the Mittal Steel Group, a Netherlands-based operation. Mittal Steel recently merged with Arcelor Steel, creating the world's largest steel company with more than 320,000 employees in over 60 countries.

Previous recipients of the Champions award were the United Auto Workers Local 897 and Ford Buffalo Stamping Plant in Hamburg, N.Y., and the Communication Workers of America Local 14177 and New Era Cap Company of Derby, N.Y.